Breaking Bread

6”x8”

2025

This is an original work hand carved on linoleum block and hand printed

Some

By Daniel Berrigan

Some stood up once and sat down.

Some walked a mile and walked away.

Some stood up twice and sat down

I’ve had it, they said.

Some walked two miles and walked away

It’s too much, they cried.

Some stood and stood and stood.

They were taken for dummies

They were taken for fools

They were taken for being taken in.

Some walked and walked and walked.

They walked the earth

They walked the waters

They walked the air.

Why do you stand?

they were asked, and

Why do you walk?

Because of the children, they said, and

Because of the heart, and

Because of the bread.

Because

the cause

is the heart’s beat

and the children born

and the risen bread.

—

This piece is inspired by the theme of this year’s Journey of Hope anual fund-and-friend-raiser of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart: “Breaking Bread” and the poem “Some” by American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, and poet Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016). So much of our lives are rooted in breaking bread together around a table, and so much of our faith calls us to widen the invitation to all of our dear neighbors to take part in that with us.

Visit here to support the ongoing breaking bread projects of the Handmaids in Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and St. Louis.